Appeals Court: Toll Booth Delay Not Improper Detention

Having to wait while a toll booth operator fills out a form–no matter how slow they are–isn’t an illegal detention, a federal appeals court has ruled.

In order to dissuade people from passing counterfeit bills, the Florida Department of Transportation at one point implemented a policy that required toll booth operators to collect information about the vehicle make, model and tag number of drivers who paid with large denomination bills, including $50 and $100 bills. The practice was discontinued on Florida’s toll roads in 2010.

Joel Chandler, a Florida man, his wife and his brother sued the state and the contractor running the toll booths in federal court in Tampa last year, claiming they were improperly detaining motorists. A district judge denied a motion to dismiss the case . . . . .